Court dismisses PTI protest crackdown complaint against Shehbaz Sharif
An Islamabad sessions court threw out PTI’s private complaint over the Nov 26 protest crackdown, saying the party had not backed its allegations with enough evidence.
An Islamabad court has dismissed a private criminal complaint brought by PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan over the alleged crackdown on the party’s Nov 26, 2024 protest, clearing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, four federal ministers and several senior security officials of the accusations raised in the case. According to the court order described in Dawn’s report, Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka dismissed the complaint at the outset, saying the PTI had not produced tangible evidence to support its claims. The judge also noted the absence of a witness list, along with medical and forensic material that would normally be expected in a case making allegations as serious as mass killing and excessive use of force. The complaint had named Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior police officials, including the Islamabad police chief. PTI’s case alleged that the protest in the capital was violently suppressed under political direction, with law enforcement using lethal force to clear Blue Area and Jinnah Avenue. The party’s allegations were grave. It claimed that 12 workers were killed and hundreds more were injured or went missing during the operation. It also alleged sniper fire, tear gas deployed during a power outage, and an attack on a container carrying then-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur and former first lady Bushra Bibi. Those claims have not been independently established in the court proceedings described in the feed. What makes the ruling notable is not only the outcome, but the court’s emphasis on procedure. Judge Majoka reportedly pointed to the PTI’s failure to meet basic filing requirements even after a lengthy period had passed since the incident. That suggests the case was not rejected after a full evidentiary hearing, but rather at a preliminary stage because the complaint was not properly supported. For PTI, the decision is a setback in one of the party’s high-profile attempts to turn the Nov 26 protest into a legal case against the government and top officials. For the federal government, it removes an immediate courtroom challenge tied to one of the most politically charged episodes of the past year. Still, the ruling does not appear to settle the larger political dispute over what happened on Nov 26. The protest, the police response and the conflicting claims around casualties and responsibility remain contested in public debate. The court’s decision, as reported, was focused on the complaint before it and on whether the petitioner had met the threshold needed to move the matter forward. The key question now is whether PTI will try to rework the complaint, seek another forum or pursue a different legal strategy. Based on the details available, the court did not rule on the full factual merits of the allegations; it dismissed the case because the filing itself was found lacking in proof and procedure. In practical terms, the order gives the government side a legal win and leaves PTI with the burden of showing stronger documentary and witness evidence if it wants to keep pressing the issue in court.
Source: Dawn Pakistan - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017676/pm-shehbaz-ministers-acquitted-in-nov-26-protest-crackdown-case
